Robert Schwandl's Urban Rail Blog

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

What you may have read in this blog
during the past four weeks were just my personal impressions and, by
no means, a full analysis. Hardly ever had I had the same feeling of
rushing through a country, covering so many metro and metro-like
systems in just one month. So while I have dealt with some in more
detail, some other posts are just fragments resulting from a hurried
visit. Still, I'm happy I have done this trip, and it has long been
overdue for a real metro enthusiast, but in the end it was Andrew
Phipps' serious proposal for a series of books about Japan which
eventually made me decide to finally visit this country myself. And
thanks to everybody who has been clicking into this blog and even
read bits or everything. I'm glad I managed to get all posts online
before being back home, as you can imagine there is still a lot of
other things waiting to be done (not least the annual tax
declaration).

So, here I am, finally sitting on board
a British Airways Boing 777 flying to London Heathrow with a delayed
departure of three hours and a missed connecting flight to Berlin....
who could imagine a better return to good old Europe after a month of
all trains running exactly on time? Time for a few general
conclusions after my trip and the country I have finally known. These
conclusions and travel tips may be helpful to those considering a
trip to Japan in the future.

Your humble author on the job in Sapporo

SAFETY

Travelling in Japan is probably safer
than in any other country in the world, I mean crime-wise. And
everybody had confirmed that to me before the trip, as I'm usually
worried about which places one can go without risking any problems as
an obvious foreigner. Doing metro exploration, I often get to areas
other visitors may not get to, and often I feel uncomfortable taking
pictures in an environment where I may not be supposed to be. But
these places do not exist in Japan, you never feel a strange
atmosphere in certain areas, and despite looking different and doing
a weird job, no one bothers you. Most people ignored me, some looked
a bit curious or astonished, but never really worried. Staff or the
few security people I saw also leave you alone. The last few days in
Tokyo, there were many announcements on the screens that police were
on increased alert and suddenly also more vigilants were visible, but
all with the typical Japanese calmness. So from the safety
point-of-view, it is a paradise. Even in Berlin, I have to watch out
when taking pictures in the U-Bahn stations, because there are a lot
of aggressive people around, and drug dealers who don't want you to
take pictures on their terrain, of course. Nothing like this occurs
in Japan, at least not in their Subways, neither is vandalism or
graffiti any issue.

TOILETS

What I had already mentioned in the
first blogs (later it became normal) is that Japan is a toilet
paradise. An issue one should not underestimate when male and over
50. I guess that there is a law that any station by default has to
have proper toilets, just like nowadays it has to be fully accessible
or requires a fire protection plan. In this respect in Europe we are
third world. In Berlin, I think about none out of 190 U-Bahn stations
has a toilet, and if it had one, it would be in a state you wouldn't
want to use it. So on a full day of rail exploration, you'd spend
several euros just on toilets you may find in major railway stations
or department stores, while in Japan they are all free, clean and
plenty.

RAIL TRAVEL BETWEEN CITIES

I had a 3-week JR Rail Pass for some
450 EUR and that's just fantastic. You have to buy it at home, well,
you order it from some online shop and you get a voucher which in
major railway stations in Japan can be exchanged for the real pass. I
did that in Fukuoka where I started my first intercity trip and used
it all the way up to Sapporo, which with normal tickets would have
cost more. But besides the intercity trips it is also good for all JR
S-Bahn-type services, as JR only distinguishes between conventional
lines (usually signed as "JR Line" at transfer points) and
"Shinkansen", the high-speed network. But with a JR Pass
you can enter both systems as often as you like, you just show your
pass to the person at the manned window next to the ticket gates and
walk through. The only restriction is that you can't use Nozomi and
Mizuho (I have never encountered the latter category anyway), which
are the fastest because they only stop in major cities. But the
Nozomis only operate on the Tokyo to Osaka line and maybe beyond,
where there are so many other trains to choose from, you may actually
find it more relaxed to travel on a Hikari or Sakura or whatever they
may be called. In fact, I never took a reserved seat (which you can
without paying any extra fare), just showed up and got into the
non-reserved cars without any problems (mostly cars 1-3), often they
were even half empty. They have plenty of legroom, a bit like U.S.
Amtrak trains, because they also turn the seats around so everybody
faces forward, which, of course, needs some room, so I could mostly
place my big bag next to me and still had place enough to get out of
my seat. Between Osaka and Tokyo it seems that the Shinkansen
headways are denser than typical Osaka Subway headways! As described
in the Kyoto post, sometimes it may even be worthwhile to catch a
Shinkansen on short trips as those Rapids which connect these cities
on the conventional network do get very crowded at times. Things are
a bit different on the Tohoku Shinkansen, north of Tokyo
(surprisingly the southern and northern networks are not properly
connected at Tokyo Station - maybe there is a track link - but all
trains terminate on stub tracks), this route is not served so
frequently and without realising I found myself on a train with all
cars "reserved", although there were plenty of free seats
and the conductor also assigned me a seat without any problems. From
Sendai to Shin-Hakodate I took a reservation, as there was a gap of
two hours between trains in the morning, and indeed, it was very full
and "All-reserved" anyway. After Aomori, however, it also
got half empty, on the stretch with had only opened a few weeks
earlier. This includes the 53 km Seikan underwater tunnel (well, the
undersea section is about half of that), which had already been in
service since 1988 by conventional trains, but was now converted to
dual-gauge, though no conventional passenger trains run through it
anymore. The speed is therefore reduced drastically to some 150 km,
but given the endless tunnels all along the Shinkansen routes, this
is just another tunnel.

Rather primitive new terminus at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto for the new JR Hokkaido Shinkansen

Talking of which, I would not recommend
the Shinkansen to see the countryside. Especially on the southern
routes between Fukuoka and Osaka, you can hardly see anything because
of the large amount of tunnels, and many other sections have noise
barriers. The best views, if you're lucky, are actually between Kyoto
and Tokyo, the oldest stretch, which has fewer tunnels and even a Mt.
Fuji panorama ready for you (sit on the left side) if the weather is
nice. For whatever reason, the windows in the Shinkansen are rather
small, you really need a window seat to see anything at all. On the
other hand, it would require a lot of time if you want to cover the
same distances with conventional trains, including many transfers as
these trains only serve certain sections. Generally, the Shinkansen
is not faster than what we know in Europe in several countries now,
around 250 km/h, but as it is an isolated system, it keeps high
speeds even on approaches to most stations, whereas our ICE or the
French TGV mix with normal trains at least on their approaches to
major stations and thus slow down much earlier. They mostly have an
impressive length and even platform egde gates! Like other trains
too, they always stop very accurately and station platforms therefore
have clear signs indicating where which car is supposed to be.

Super Hokuto Express ready to depart from Hakodate

Except for the Super Hokuto Express
from Hakodate to Sapporo (no idea why it deserves the super and
express adjectives?) I haven't taken any of these regional trains, so
can't say much about them. That train was o.k., as o.k. as
diesel-powered trains can be. I actually had taken a reservation, but
then sat in a non-reserved car because I could sit on the right side
which is nicer along the long coastal route.

RAIL SYSTEMS

The mainline rail network is actually
divided into various regional JR companies, but for passenger
purposes all these different JR networks appear as a single network,
the same is true for the Shinkansen network. No matter whether a
train is operated by JR East or JR Central or whatever. In fact, the
regional subdivisions are not visible in passenger information, just
in Sapporo I heard something like "JR Hokkaido says thank you
for travelling with us" or so. There are, however, numerous
private railways, and especially in metropolitan areas also
"third-sector" companies of which you never understand who
is actually behind them, could be a city, a prefecture, a private
railway, even JR, but generally a mix of some of these. So, while on
the one hand you'll find a very dense rail network, you'll also find
that this is very fragmented and something like a European
"Verkehrsverbund" or joint fare system is a concept unknown
and probably uncomprehended in Japan. In Europe, these fare systems
were developed partly because something like the Japanese concept
would be considered unfair, as a passenger generally cannot choose
which rail line runs near his home and where he has to go for work.
So we came up with the idea of "journeys" which can imply
multiple means of transport and different operators within a certain
area. Of course, it is still not all fair, because most European
cities operate a zone-based system, but one could argue that nowadays
you can't choose how far you need to travel to your job, so only
proper global systems like that in Stockholm get close to "fair"
(up there, people riding just short distances don't find this so fair
because in the end many people pay a higher fare than what they might
have to pay in Japan). Anyway, the Japanese systems are extremely
fragmented in this respect, and if you do a bit of travel beyond the
daily trip to work and back home again, it gets quite expensive,
because even minimum fares of 150 Yen add up quickly. This
fragmentation reaches some ridiculous extremes, from the two separate
subway systems in Tokyo, to the silly 2-station "subway" in
Nagoya (Kami-iida Line" or third-sector company's extensions of
what are normal metro extensions in the rest of the world. Resulting
from this, day passes available in most places can only be used on a
rather limited network, or even just on a single line. There is no
city which offers something comparable to a London Travelcard or a
German Tageskarte (but don't get me wrong - I'm NOT saying that our
zonal systems are ideal, in fact they are the main reason why
potential occasional riders do NOT use public transport!).

So, while fares are a complete mess in
Japan, paying those fares is easier than anywhere else now. You just
have to get a so-called IC Card, add some value to it and you can use
the same card in virtually all cities all over Japan. In this
respect, we are decades behind Japan. This is especially ideal for
occasional riders, because you don't have to worry anymore about
fares and tickets. Just tap in and out as you travel and you should
be fine. For the intensive metro enthusiat-type of user, the limited
day passes are still recommended as they are cheaper in the end and
won't cause trouble in case of weird travel behaviour (always
remembering how I messed up my Oyster Card account in London,
resulting in lots of "unresolved journeys" - in Japan,
however, this wouldn't happen too often as the gates are everywhere,
so you're unlikely not to tap out accordingly). If you decide to get
paper tickets (of the tiny Paris RATP size), instead, and if you want
to keep them, exit through a manned gate and ask to have it stamped
(validated), otherwise the ticket gate will swallow single tickets.
And what's also very good, if you don't understand what fare you
should buy, just get the cheapest and pay the rest at the "fare
adjustment" machines before you exit at your destination. And in
case of problems, almost all metro entrances are staffed with very
friendly people willing to assist. I think just in Nagoya I saw a few
stations which had certain secondary entrances which were not manned,
but this is indicated at surface level.

Standardised ticket machines, here on Hiroshima's Astram Line

Ticket machines generally have an
"English" button, just on the Skyrail (the kind of cable
car near Hiroshima) and on the Yurikagaoka shuttle in North Chiba I
did not find any. Getting day tickets from the machines is usually no
hassle, but in some cities like Kyoto they were just available from
the ticket window. But as they are used to tourists they will
understand easily what you wish (although here you have to say
"Subway only" or "Subway and Bus, please").
Generally, the use of ticket machines is easier than in Europe,
because all across the country they are very similar, so once you
have used one you know how they all work.

LANGUAGE

The language is a problem to some
extent. On the one hand, the Japanese have made a strong effort to
sign almost anything in the transport environment in English, too,
and except for some weird word like "wickets" for ticket
barriers in Nagoya, it is generally correct English. I wish in
Germany we would provide the same service to our visitors. On the
other hand, spoken English is hard to find. Even at hotel receptions,
their knowledge is limited to a few sentences learned by heart, and
if you ask something you are never sure whether they understand you
properly as they will always respond with a smile and probably a
"Thank you" or "OK". Station staff generally does
not speak any English either, but if you ask for a "map"
they usually understand the word and try everything to let you go
with something map-like in your hands. The lack of sufficient English
knowledge is the more surprising to me as we grew up in the 1970s
listening to all sorts of British pop and rock music and so acquired
a certain love for that language. And we knew that Japan at that time
was a very important destination also for our rock stars and that
Japanese kids got crazy in concerts. In fact, I couldn't help having
a look at the Budokan which was then one of the major venues where
many of our heroes recorded their live albums.

MAPS

Availability of take-away maps very
much depends on the city, the best being Tokyo and Fukuoka with
plenty of special English material stocked for self-service at ticket
gates; a nice brochure with a take-out map, though the text in
Japanese only, can be found in most stations in Sapporo; all other
cities were rather disappointing. Upon asking you may be given an A4
colour print (Osaka), a pathetic lovely photocopy in b/w in Yokohama,
or nothing at all in other cities. I found a few large bus maps which
include Subways, too. So it is not exactly a map collector's
paradise, but my suitcase got heavy enough with the items I did
collect along the way for myself and some co-collectors.

PRICES ETC.

The lack of fluent verbal conversation
does not, however, result in a risk of being ripped off when buying
things. In fact, they are very correct and always say aloud "I
take 10,000 Yen" or so in Japanese (sometimes they do it in
English, so that's how I know). and count your change for you very
accurately.

This brings us to general price levels:
I would say, overall they are similar to those in Germany, which
means visiting Japan must be quite cheap for British, Swiss or
Skandinavian people. Many things are actually cheaper, like a bottle
of Coca Cola from the numerous vending machines on the streets just
costs 160 Yen (1.30 EUR). Many of the dishes advertised in full
colour and 3D in restaurant windows are below 1000 Yen.

Typical Japanese restaurant window

Hotels in the medium category have a
good standard, in fact they are so standardised that rooms are almost
identical. In the 70 EUR price segment you generally get a better
equipped hotel than in Germany, though without breakfast. Useless to
say that for the same room in London you would probably pay 200 EUR.
Maybe Tokyo and Osaka are slightly more expensive but usually there
is a big choice of similar hotels around railway stations, I just
wouldn't go back to the one I had in Hiroshima (Ark Hotel; quality
maybe worse due to important tourism) and Nagoya (Toyoko Inn),
although they were still much better than what I had for 120 EUR in
London Earl's Court last year! For me, who prefers firm beds, the
quality of the beds was very good compared to many hotels around the
world. Free WiFi works perfectly in all hotels. With a 24-hour
convencience store around everywhere you can always get some easy
food or make your own breakfast if you (like me) don't fancy Japanese
breakfast buffets with their (for us) rather unusual and often
unidentifyable delicacies. Rooms always have kettles, though coffee
and tea supply is often limited. And major cities also offer quite a
few Starbucks or other coffee shops, and French-style bakeries are
also quite popular. For those who don't care about hotels, there are
many cheaper options too, like the Japanese box hotels, but I didn't
try those.

Railway stations and even most metro
stations have lockers, for a big suitcase they are 600-700 Yen (5-6
EUR) a day. Normally there seem to be plenty, but in Nagoya I had
difficulties finding one as holiday season had just started. Anyone
planning a trip in spring should take this into account: The first
week of May is Golden Week in Japan, many people are on holiday. This
may be good for big cities as overcrowding on urban trains may be
less of a problem, but certain tourist destinations may get packed
instead. If you go for cherry blossom, forget it, the chances to be
in the right place in the right moment are low, you'd have to be in
the same place over a longer period, or book last minute when it is
clearly predictable how the season will go in that year. And then, I
was told, the best places can get quite expensive suddenly. But
still, spring and autumn are the best times to visit, and Tokyo was
quite summer-like in early May, which was very nice!

Thursday, 12 May 2016

My last stop on my extensive, but also
intensive Japan metro tour was Sapporo. Travelling with a JR Rail
Pass, I also came here by train from Sendai, but despite the Hokkaido
Shinkansen to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto having opened only a few weeks
earlier, the train journey is still long and tiring. So, I'm glad to
fly on the way back to Narita, from where I'm connecting directly
with a flight to London and from there to Berlin.

Namboku Line (feat. T-shaped guide-rail) - Makomanai terminus

To finish the trip with a little extra
time, I calculated a total of three days for Sapporo. The first two
were rather cloudy, partly rainy and cold, so an ideal weather to
stay in the Subway for a while. The Subway's most distinctive
feature, if you don't know it you might not even notice it
immediately - it has rubber tyres! Why? I don't know really, because
all possible advantages are not quite true. It is certainly not less
noisy, in fact, when trains enter and leave the stations they are
much noiser than for example the Berlin U-Bahn. When you travel on
the train they are also noisy, which may come from the open gangways
between cars (only a few have sliding glass doors). Do they run more
smoothly than metros with steelwheel-on-rail cars? Not really! They
run o.k., but nothing like floating. In fact they run a bit like
metrocars which have not had their wheels properly maintained, so
they are not 100% round. Unlike Lausanne, for example, there are no
considerable gradients which would require additional adhesion. Maybe
they accelerate a bit faster than normal trains, but that would be
the only advantage I have observed. And this would not be Japan if
all three lines had the same specifications! The Namboku Line differs
from the other two by a T-shaped central guide-rail as well as
third-rail power supply, whereas the other two lines, which are
newer, have a simple I-shaped guide-rail and overhead catenary.
Otherwise, I think the cars have the same width, which at 3m is
rather wide. All the platforms were laid out for much longer trains,
though, but now only 6-car and 7-car trains are in service on the
Namboku and Tozai Lines, respectively, and just 4-car trains on the
Toho Line.

Original Subway test car on display under metro viaduct

By the way, at Jieitai-mae on the Namboku Line, there is a
kind of museum under the metro viaduct; it was closed when I was
there, but you can actually see many exhibits like old trams and the
original metro prototype cars from the street.

At Odori in the heart of the city, the
Namboku and Tozai Lines, both opened in the 1970s, form a proper
cross-shaped interchange with the Tozai Line and its island platform
on the lower level, and separate escalators and stairs leading to the
respective side platforms of the Namboku Line above. The Toho Line,
however, feels like an improvised add-on to the original system. With
the grid layout of the city, it was built two blocks east and feels
like the undesired little brother. While at Odori, the long corridor
is rather lively, that at Sapporo station was pretty deserted when I
walked through during late morning. The corridor as such is very
wide, divided into three parallel sections, of which the central one
is within the paid area. Being less busy than the older lines, the
Toho Line has not yet been equipped with platform gates, instead, the
short trains still have a conductor in the rear cabin! The conductor
not just stretches his head out of the window, but keeps standing
with the door open when the train departs and only closes it when it
is past the boarding section of the exaggeratedly long platforms. The
unused platform sections on all three lines are fully tiled, but more
or less fenced off, although without any signs that you are not
allowed to enter this area. So with these long platforms, a
leaning-over-the-platform-gate photo is possible in almost all
stations.

Toho Line - Motomachi - rear cabin conductor

Toho Line - Sakaemachi - excessive platform length

What distinguishes the Toho Line
positively from the other two lines are its proper next-train
indicators, the same you would find in most Japanese metros. I mean
they don't show the minutes left for the next train, but the
departure time plus a graphical indication where the next train
currently is (funnily, this is sometimes translated into English text
like "The next train is now two stations away from this station"
or something like this, can't remember exactly - and often these
messages are interrupted).

The older lines, however, do have some
electronic indicators, but there was generally only some Japanese
text running through. At termini where trains stay in the platform
and thus depart from either side, there are no signs which side the
next train leaves. One train may have just arrived when you come down
the escalator and the other may be about to leave, so you may have to
wait for 8 minutes because you made the wrong guess. And with no
minutes shown before departure, you'd always need a watch to compare
the real time with the announced departure time (sometimes there is a
clock visible, but often it isn't!).

Typical line panel on Toho Line

Signage is also much better on the Toho
Line: on the walls behind the tracks there is a huge line panel with
blue arrows indicating the direction. On the older lines, I missed
global-standard line diagrams as soon as you come down to the
platform to reassure you choose the right train. There are just signs
above the platforms saying "For Odori, Sapporo, Asabu" (I
think this is something we could copy from Japanese metros, that also
major points are always included, or "Asabu via Odori &
Sapporo").

Inside the trains, line information is rather modern, with two types, one a simple electronic display, the other a full screen with constantly changing information:

Modern in-train monitors with changing languages

Not really appealing enclosed viaduct through southern districts

Another special feature of the Sapporo
Subway is, of course, the enclosed viaduct along the southern Namboku
Line. I can understand the snow argument, but that's about it. The
noise perceivable from street level is not less than on other metros
with open viaducts, in fact I would say that for example Vienna's
U-Bahn is less audible when gliding over viaducts. Inside the
stations the noise is much too loud anyway, and besides that, the
train makes the entire station tremble, as if a convoy of heavy
lorries was crossing a bridge. And from the outside, it simply looks
ugly! Similar solutions, for example in Prague, are much more
appealing.

Namboku Line - Kita sanju-jo station (some stations with side platforms have connecting underpasses between the platforms)

Regarding architecture and design, the
stations are o.k., nothing to get excited about, but not horrible
either, standard Japanese functional style without any special
highlights. Although opened over a period of almost 30 years
(1971-1999) you can't tell the difference which station is older and
which is newer. The most common element to many stations is the use
of small tiles for wall-cladding, mostly in inconspicuous brownish or
yellowish tones, but some with a nice strong dark-green:

Tozai Line - Nijuyonken station

On the
orange Tozai Line, many stations feature wall panels with images
associated with Sapporo - unfortunately, the same images are repeated
every few metres and in every station:

Tozai Line - Nishi juhat-chome - lovely, though repetitive motifs

The weakest point of the entire system
are certainly the entrances. Most are hidden somewhere in buildings,
and many are hardly visible because the logo disappears in a mass of
other signs. Graphically the 4-colour 'ST' logo is not bad as a
company logo, but it is not suitable as a Subway logo. On many signs,
the colours have paled out, and the letters are much too thin to be
seen from a distance.

Sakaemachi - hardly visible entrance sign

A logo should be visible from several hundred
metres away so you know which way to head for the next station. I
love those cities where the metro logo is actually in the middle of a
road intersection. When I'm in a city unfamiliar to me, I often use
the metro entrances as points of orientation. Which brings us to
another weak point in Sapporo: Although some entrances apparently (I
haven't double-checked with a bilingual map) show the station name in
big signs in Japanese, there is nothing in "global script".
Sapporo was once an Olympic City, but not even the Makomanei station
has an English name sign on the outside. Also inside the stations,
English is used much less than in other cities.

Makomanai station without any English signs

While JR East is just beginning to
introduced line codes and station numbers in the Tokyo area, rail
stations in Hokkaido are already coded. But strangely, this has not
been done in coordination with the Sapporo Subway, so H01 to H14
stands for the stations on the Sapporo Subway Toho Line, but also for
the JR lines east of Sapporo station towards Chitose (I don't
understand anyway what their letters refer to, because only H02-H04
would correspond to the 'Hakodate Line'). There is, of course, no
proper fare integration between Subway and JR. In fact, not even the
physical integration is too good - at Sapporo station, the respective
Subway stations are one block further south than where they should
be.

Sapporo's single Streetcar line became
a proper circular line only in Dec. 2015, prior to that it had two
stub ends which were only some 450 m from each other. The new stretch
looks nice, instead of the tracks in the middle of the road on
marked-off lanes, they were laid along the curbside, which allowed
for the integration of the only intermediate stop on the pavement,
and with rather stylish shelters:

Southbound stop at Tanuki-koji on new section

The former stubs were rebuilt, the
one at Nishi-yon-chome, which is one block south from the Odori
Subway intersection, has two separate platforms on either side of the
corner, whereas the former southern terminus at Susukino remained in
the same place for both directions, but now has two tracks:

Former Susukino terminus

Despite this recent effort to modernise
the system, with a couple of new low-floor trams, the Sapporo
Streetcar still leaves a pathetic impression, mostly because it is
extremely slow. Too many traffic lights and usually the stops being
placed before the intersections, which causes too long waiting times.
Most of the trams are very old, could run as heritage trams for
tourists, but a modern mass transit system has other requirements.
Again, you have to get on at the rear and get off at the front paying
the paybox next to the driver (flat fare of 170 Yen, no day tickets
on weekdays, just on weekends! IC cards are accepted), but when the
tram gets full, this is very unpleasant if you have to squeeze
through to get out. And unfortunately people up here are no better
than in Tokyo, they just stand there making no effort to get out of
your way, you really have to kick or push them. I sometimes feel I
should throw their mobile phone to the ground, what a plague! Luckily
they are not supposed to use it for talking with someone, would even
be worse, but at least they might lift up their heads and look a bit
what's happening around them.

The platforms are again extremely
narrow, in Europe we would consider them too dangerous. If there are
several people waiting to get on, they fill the entire platform, so
those who want to get off, can't, because at the same time they would
have to queue to get off the platform as the traffic light is
probably red to cross the street immediately, and as the Japanese are
not allowed to and therefore won't do it, they'll stand there waiting
for a green light although there is no car in sight anywhere.... Most
of them wouldn't see the green light anyway, because they are still
staring at their mobile device, and therefore the traffic light, when
it switches to green, makes a loud noise to tell them that now they
can cross. Luckily car drivers are very respectful in Japan, so
passengers won't be run over when crossing the street with their eyes
still fascinated by what's going on on their mini screens.

So while all this seems to be a
survivor of times gone by, the narrow platforms feature very modern
screens, which actually display in real time where each tram is at
the moment - and what's even better, it shows you where the low-floor
cars are:

Enlarge to spot the only low-floor car shown (the other had disappeared from the screen)

Today, two of them were operating on the inner loop, i.e.
the anti-clockwise circle. I saw another one standing in the depot,
so there should be at least three of them, but I'm not sure and
Wikipedia doesn't have any info on rolling stock on the Sapporo
Streetcar page. About half of the rest belongs to two different
generations, most of the old ones are covered with full adverts, and
the second generation mostly boasts a green livery:

As I was
primarily trying to get good photos of the new low-floor trams, I
didn't actually get a chance to ride them. I wonder what they are
like on what looked like rather worn-out track. But with the purchase
of the new trams and the closure of the gap in the city centre,
obviously a decision had been made to keep the Streetcar alive. But
then really more improvements need to be made. In the course of a
stop upgrade, these should be generally relocated after the traffic
lights so the trams can flow with traffic. Like everywhere in Japan
(and in Australia) I have observed that traffic light cycles are
extremely long compared to typical European cities. Shortening these
would already increase the overall (at least perceived) speed. And
where necessary, the trams need to be given priority or at least let
them preempt the traffic light so it stays on green until they have
passed the junction.

Sapporo was modelled after American
cities and therefore has a grid layout in the city centre. I guess,
following the American example, Sapporo could do with a Downtown
Circulator, taking the Streetcar at least to the railway station, the
TV Tower, etc. This could be operated as a vintage line while the
current system deserves some more modern rolling stock.

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Sendai, just like Sapporo, was
initially meant to be in the first of a 2-volume series about Japan,
and this city somehow influenced our publication schedule as only a
few months ago, they opened their second metro line, which for the
foreseeable future will also remain the last completely new line to
open in Japan. We thought that this opening would therefore be an
ideal time to start with this series of books. As my co-author Andrew
Phipps had just recently been there, I put my travel dates in spring
2016 so I would be able to cover the new Tozai Line. Later, I decided
that we'd split the series into three volumes instead, and so Sendai
will be part of the "North & Centre" volume in 2017,
leaving more space for the numerous rail systems in the Tokyo area in
the first volume (June 2016).

I calculated a full day for
photographing in Sendai, and that should be enough, as besides the
two Sendai Subway lines and some JR services there is nothing around
here. The first thing you notice in Sendai is its Subway logo which
sits on top of all entrances or is attached to buildings. For
Austrians like me or Germans, the combination of two capital S's
always evokes other associations, but that's what Sendai Subway
suggests. I took a quick stroll through the awakening city centre
when the extensive shopping galleries were just opening - by the way,
unlike Osaka (Umeda), passengers are mostly delivered to a network of
elevated walkways rather than underground shopping malls when they
leave the railway station. I then entered the N09 station, i.e.
Hirose-dori on the older Namboku Line (here you can sometimes also
read Nanboku) and got my day pass easily from the ticket machine.
Right next to these, I was surprised by a huge vaulted mural
depicting mythological figures:

Hirose-dori station on Namboku Line

I took the next southbound train to
check out the interchange at Sendai station between the two lines.
The Tozai Line was signed well enough, but I was surprised that I was
sent upstairs to the mezzanine, then along a long corridor to
escalators which led me down to the end of the Tozai platform. So
apparently, despite being located one station basically on top of the
other in a + shape, there is no direct connection between the two
platform levels. It may be possible via the lift, though, I'll have
to have a closer look at the station layout map which was available
at many Subway stations. Later I realised that Sendai station on the
Namboku Line, i.e. N10, is actually the nicest station on that
line, with a green indirectly illuminated vaulted ceiling along the
middle of the island platform. I wonder whether this was an
enhancement made in the course of the construction of the new Tozai
Line which features similar design elements:

Namboku Line platform at Sendai station

After having visited almost all metros
of all different technologies (only Sapporo left), I was quite
positively surprised by the design of the new Tozai Line. All
stations have some appealing elements, in most cases it is a special
ceiling structure using indirect illumination, but also varying types
of wall cladding and in some cases stylish murals in the intermediate
level. So while all other underground stations all over Japan were
rather functional, though still quite pleasant places, here for the
first time I had the feeling that someone has actually given a
special consideration to station design:

Yagiyama Zoological Park - western terminus of the Tozai Line

A feature unique to Sendai,
which had been in use on the Namboku Line, has also been implemented
on the Tozai Line, i.e. a different colour for gates and station
signs depending on the direction of the train. So all westbound
platform edges are green, those east are orange; the line colour is
light-blue. I wonder whether those colours were chosen at random or
whether they mean anything intuitively to the locals. Especially on
the western leg, the line runs through rather hilly terrain, so
International Center station lies just below the surface right after
the bridge, while other stations lie as deep as level -5. The
underground stations are well-ventilated, in fact almost too cold to
hang around for a while, and to make them less spooky, there is
modern classical music (which can easily get on one's nerves...). As not many people from overseas will have had a chance to see this line yet, here some examples of various stations from west to east:

T01 Yagiyama Zoological Park - western terminus of the Tozai Line

T02 Abayama - serving the university

T03 Kawauchi

T07 Sendai

T07 Sendai

T08 Miyagino-dori

T10 Yakushido

T12 Rokuchonome

T13 Arai

Just after noon you can get quite nice
shots from the station square above with the trains entering or
leaving International Center station. Otherwise only Sendai (T07)
station allows the typical "leaning over the platform gates"
shot of a train, as most other platforms are just long enough for a
4-car train (though there is an unfinished platform section behind a
wall in case a fifth car needs to be added). From the outside, the
trains are pretty ugly anyway... Inside they are nice, though smaller
than those on the Namboku Line, as like in Fukuoka or Kobe, this is
once again a linear-motor metro line with a smaller profile. So,
besides Osaka and Tokyo, there are a total of three cities in Japan,
which have just two metro lines, but these two each use different
technology. I wonder if all calculations were done properly? Usually
you reduce costs by having a larger system with a single technology,
by sharing depots, maintenance staff, etc.

Inside a Tozai Line car

Right now, it does not seem that the
Tozai Line will need a fifth car soon. Besides a few students going
and coming from the University at Aobayama station, the trains were
barely used during noon. Like the Namboku Line, the Tozai Line
operates every 7-8 minutes during off-peak hours. At either end of
the line, buses are supposed to connect, but there was hardly any
movement visible. The Arai terminus near the line's depot lies in a
rather undeveloped area, although some housing construction was
visible. But all in all, I wondered whether a full-scale metro (well,
it's a down-scaled metro anyway) was needed here, or whether some
sort of light rail, maybe with an underground portion through the
city centre, would have done the job too. But such intermediate
systems do not exist in Japan so far. On the other hand surprising
that they didn't simply erect an ugly viaduct through the less
densely-built up areas, but built the line mostly underground.
Besides the bridge across the Hirose River next to International
Center station, there is another short bridge structure, but I think
it is hardly accessible through a forested area; and if you manage to
get there, you'll find a sort of modern truss bridge, so no good spot
for an easy train picture. Like other linear metros, the Tozai Line
uses an overhead catenary. It is operated by a driver in ATO mode,
but even on straight sections does not speed up too much, and in
curves the max. speed was mostly marking 40 km/h, although the train
ran even slower despite proper canting.

After exploring the Tozai Line in
depth, I had a quick look at the JR underground route, the Senseki
Line which starts in an underground station Aoba-dori right in
the city centre (and this station is quite directly linked to the
Namboku Line, both forming a sort of L-complex). This JR line has a
total of five underground stations, all look similar, but each with a
different colour. Off-peak there is a train every 15 minutes, so I
took one out from Sendai to Kozurushinden and then back to Aoba-dori.

JR underground platform at Sendai station

The western leg of the present Tozai Line is a logical continuation
of this rail tunnel, so I wonder whether originally these two
projects were related. Inside the JR stations there is a huge system
map for the suburban services, but this was the first of its kind not
to include English station names. The same was true for the
service-pattern maps, although inside the trains these showed English
transcriptions, too.

After this it was finally time to ride
the Namboku Line properly. First I took the northern leg, came
through Asahigaoka station which allows a view out into a park on the
western side, and then got off at Kuromatsu to take some pictures on
the open section just north of that station. In fact, the line
remains on the surface almost to the northern end, and possibly some
shots are possible from street level between Yaotome and Izumi-Chuo,
but I was getting too tired.

N01 Izumi-chuo - northern terminus of Namboku Line

On the Namboku Line they also use just
4-car trains, but all platforms are fully fitted out, so you can get
those over-the-fence shots everywhere. Otherwise, as said before, the
stations are plain and monotonous, with beige and brown tones
dominating. The walls are mostly clad with beige bricks. So I picked
a few as samples to take pictures and rode to the southern end, which
is also a surface terminus with tracks leading to the depot. But the
sun was getting too low already for good photos, so I changed at
Nagamachi to take a JR train back to Sendai station and finish the
day early.Despite having just added a new metro line, there are no nice system maps available. The only thing they hand out are huge bus maps which let you recognise where the Subway runs along.What I noticed most strongly in Sendai is the large amount of old buses. In this respect, Japan seems to be decades behind Europe and North America. High-floor buses we can hardly remember they once existed on urban lines, are rather common here, and not to think about the diesel emissions. Wasn't Tokyo once associated with climate change and how we should save the world?

Sunday was my last day in
Tokyo, and I actually wanted to use it for a bit of city walking and
sightseeing, but then I remembered that I had almost forgotten to
ride the Tokyo Monorail! Well, with so many different rail systems in
the whole of Greater Tokyo, this can easily happen! So, after walking
across the Imperial Gardens to Tokyo Station, I went downstairs to
search for Tokyo's north-south "Passante", something that's
shown as Sobu-Yokosuka Line. The underground station isn't really
pleasant, but at least the train which was about to depart had a nice
driver, who stepped aside when I wanted to take a picture, then
helped me to reassure that this was the right train and after he had
driven me down to Shimbashi, just one stop, saluted me with the big
train horn. A very small, but lovely gesture in a country where train
drivers seem to risk their job when the show any human gesture
towards trainspotters.

Frightening photographing spot at end of platform at Shimbashi on Yamanote Line

At Shimbashi I had to change to a
surface line, because just these, and primarily the Yamanote Line
stop at the following station, which is Hamamatsucho, where the Toyko
Monorail starts. The good thing about this line is that JR Rail
Passes are accepted (I saw that some of the intermediate stops have
unmanned gates where you won't be able to get out and back in again
with a JR Rail Pass). The Monorail begins somewhere high above the
Yamanote Line tracks, the station has only a single spur, though
rather wide platforms, one side for arrivals, the other for
departure, with a clear system for queuing painted on the floor:

And
of course, there are three types of services, express just for the
airport stations, some semi-express and locals. The local trains let
the faster ones overtake at Showajima, next to the depot, but the
timing is very tight, so the stop is rather short. Upon departure
from Hamamatsucho, the Monorail glides over the multi-track railway
corridor, you can watch all sorts of trains from Yamanote to
Shinkansen head north and south. At this point I actually discovered
the only Yamanote prototype train, so at least I knew that it was in
service and in which direction it was moving on the ring line. The
Monorail offers many spots for good photos, the better ones would be
in the morning as on the western side there are often high buildings
which throw their shade on the route in the afternoon.

Tokyo Monorail - end-of-platform shot at Seibijo

From the end
of the narrow side platforms, many photos are also possible after
noon, though. And while in many countries of the world we are
confronted with stupid photographing bans or whatever trouble, the
Monorail encourages photographing, at least at the International
Terminal station, where big signs show you the way to the best spot
at the end of the platform. As this view is towards the east, late
afternoon would be the best time here.

Invitation to take photos of Monorail!

View from official photo spot at Haneda International Terminal

The station at the
International Terminal is wide and clear, and the arrival platform
has a direct exit to the departure hall, whereas passengers who have
just arrived by plane, easy access is provided from the lower level
with one escalator up to the monrail. The Monorail's two underground
stations at the Domestic Terminal are quite nice and also
well-integrated into the terminal building. What is a bit funny on
this monorail is the strange seat arrangement, probably determined by
some technical equipment or the wheels under the floor. On some
vehicles there are raised seats in the middle of the car, like
thrones, very weird:

This is probably a problem with straddle-beam
monorails that has been solved later, as the vehicles in Tama or
Kitakyushu have normal flat floors and seats could be arranged in
whatever way, though resulting in an overall higher vehicle.

To finish off this Tokyo urban rail
story, I could not help myself and started to chase the new Yamanote
Line train. To improve my chances to get a photo in good light, I
jumped on the next clockwise train at Hamamatsucho to get to the
western side of the loop, while the new train was doing its circles
in the anti-clockwise direction. With a headway of 3-4 minutes, I
looked out continuously to see whether the new train passed on the
other track. From that moment I would be able to calculate its
position, with a full circle taking about an hour, similar to
Berlin's Ringbahn. I got off at Ebisu and still hadn't spotted it, so
it couldn't be too long unless it had been taken out of service in
the meantime. But after a couple of older trains had come through it
suddenly appeared and I got the pictures I wanted. While I was
concentrated on my job, I heard some clicking behind me, and when I
turned round, some spontaneous photographers who had taken the chance
for a shot, too, had jumped back into their train going in the
opposite direction:

And finally, the new stylish prototype Yamanote Line train at Ebisu

With that job accomplished I returned
to Hamamatsucho on the next train to really finish my pleasant stay
in Tokyo with a visit to the Tokyo Tower and its fantastic views.
Then I made my way back to Iidabashi to collect my luggage and headed
for Tokyo station to get on the next possible train to Sendai.